Inflation device



July 9, 1946.

H. E. HEIGIS INFLATION DEVICE Filed Sept. 50, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patentedjuiy 9,

INFLATION DEVICE Henry Ernest Heigls, West Orange, N. J assignor to Specialties Development Corporation, Bloomfield, N. .L, a corporation of New Jersey .Application September'30, 1941, Serial No.,4l2,928

The present invention has reference to an ap-.

paratus for use with pneumatic and analogous devices that are to be inflated or charged with a fluid pressure medium to a predetermined degree of pressure, and which is designed to prevent the establishment of excessive pressure within such devices when inflation or charging is taking place.

More specifically, this invention relates to a charging valve to be used with containers or envelopes, rigid or otherwise.

The invention, in this instance, will be described in connection with a so-called life-raft for aircraft; it will be understood, however, that this is by way of illustration only, since the device is equally well adaptable to any other container having a limited pressure capacity, for example, an airplane fuel tank which'is to be evacuated and used for flotation purposes, as suggested in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,200,922.

Life-rafts, adduced here for illustration, that more compartments which, when the use of the life-raft is desired, are given a charge'of-compressed air or high pressure gas. Since such fabrics are not very pressure resistive, their safe operating pressure being in the neighborhood of three pounds per square inch, more or less; and the source of pressure fluid from which such rafts are usually charged, in the case of compressed air, delivers at a pressure of one-hundred pounds per square inch; and in the case of a compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide, even very much higher; it becomes necessary and desirable to limit the pressure within said pneumatic compartments to a maximum safe value as stated above. It would seem, that ordinary vent valves would answer the purpose of such a, contingency; However, it has been found that vent valves de-' signed to operate under suchlow pressures as would prevent the raft from bursting, are seated so lightly as to be a source of continued leakage from the raft. I A light-seating vent valve of this type, would also very frequently be unable to seat properly due to the presence of even minute particles of foreign matter.

e above, of course, holds equally truepf rigid cont ners of low pressure capacity.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an inflating or charging valve for low pressure resistive type envelopes or containers which overcomes these objections and disadvantages. l

- 4 Claims. (Cl. 137-695) vices of the type described.

an improved inflating valve for pneumatic de- It is a further object of the invention to provide an inflating valve which permits the inflation of low pressure pneumatic devices from high pressure sources.

More particularly, it is an object to provide an inflation, valve which hasaseat-type vent valve for the prevention of pressures within the inflated device beyond a given safe. value.

Itis another object to provide a valve as referred to, in which the vent valve is ordinarily held securely seated by a force larger than that at which it is adapted to vent the pressure medium receiving device during charging.

It is a still further-object to provide in an inflation valve as indicated, a vent valve which is It is also an object of this invention to-provide B8 automatically made operative during inflation, and which is otherwise held securely seated under non-inflation conditions.

These and other objects not specifically enumerated above, will be apparent when described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and wherein:

. Figure 12 s a top plan view of a life-boat or raft.

embodying the present invention and showing the manner of assembly ofthe pressure medium source and the inflation control device.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a portion of the life-boat taken on the line 2-2 of Figure ;l. viewed in the direction of. the arrows, and showing an upper and a lower in flatable compartment.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of a section of the inflating device shown in Figure 1, taken on the line 33 and viewed in the direction of the arrows, as indicated in Figure 4.

Figure 4 is an enlarged top plan of two inflating devices, applied to the two compartments of the raft of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the reference i indicates the inflatable rim of the inflatable life-boat, the rim consisting of individually but simultaneously inflatable upper and lower compartments 2 and 3, respectively, this arrangement of compartments enabling the boat to retain its origina1 shape in the event that either one or the other of the compartments be punctured and deflated. The bottom of the boat is represented at 4, the oar-locks at I, and the seats at 6; the

seats being separately inflatable through suitable the inflating val e body it.

' seat 35.

' raft by means of elastic flanges l4 and I5.

ber or the like, is fastened over an inflating aperture l6 formed in the fabric of the rim, while a protecting apertured piece of fabric Il covers the upper surface of said flange and the adjacent portions of the raft fabric, the flange being suitably cemented to both the raft and the protecting fabric. The supporting flange M carries in an opening in its body, which corresponds to aperture 56 in the raft fabric, a lower portion Iii of Said lowerportion 53 comprises a tubular formation shaped to provide a close fit with said aperture of the rubber' flange, into which it is securely fastened. The main valve body [9 is formed with an inlet adapted for threaded connection to the manifold connector 2! A main valve chamber 22 is formed adjacent to the inlet, and communicates therewith by a passage 23. A valve seat 24 is formed about said passage, which is ordinarily closed off by a check valve 25. The check valve includes a sealing member 25 supported by a member 21, and is held against seat 24 by means of spring 28, disposed in a recess 29 of the member 27 and bearing with its other end against a piston assembly 30, slidably disposed in valve chamber .22.

a passage 3! in the body i9 connects valve chamber 22 with the inside of the raft compartment 2 by way of a restricted flow. nozzle 32 disposed in a suitable recess "of the body l9 and passage 3|. A baffle 33 is secured into the tubular opening of support l8 opposite nozzle 32, to direct the incoming fluid straight down into the compartment 2 to prevent possible damage to the fabric, which may result from a high velocity fluid medium discharging through the obliquely disposed passage 3|. The valve body I9 is enlarged and apertured at 34, and carries threadedly secured to it at that point a vent valve seat 35. A vent valve 36, comprising a sealing disc 37, a supporting disc 38, and a valve stem-39, serves to provide a closure for the opening in valve seat 35. Valve stem 33, which is securely fastened into supporting disc 38, extends centrally f the body l9 into a recess 4| of the piston assembly 30, and

carries telescoped about it a light spring 42, bears ing with its one end against a collar 43, which is held in place by means of a cotter pin 44. passing through the stem. The other end of the spring 42 abutsagainst a collar Bil carried loosely by the stem 39, and which, in turn, bears against a spider formation 45 in opening 40 of the valve In addition to the seating force of spring 42, valve 36 is held onto its seat by a strong spring 46, hearing against a shoulder 41 formed on the valve'seat member, and telescoped about an extension 48 thereof. The other end of spring 46 is carried by the disc-shaped spring support 49. Support 49 bears against the recessed portion 50 of piston assembly 30. A cotter pin Si in stem 39, and aspider formation 52 in the spring support 49, cooperate to provide appoint of application for the force of spring 46 to stem 39,

and thereby to valve 36. A valve cap 53, which is provided with a plurality of openings 54, secured over valve seat member 35 adjacent vent valve 36, offers mechanical protection for the vent valve and. an outlet for any fluid medium vented there-through.

Referring to Figure 4, the inflating devices I 2 and I3 are connected to the manifold connector 2|, which communicates with fluid pressure supply hose lll by means of coupling 55. Coupling 55 is provided with an alternative connection 56, which is ordinarily closed by a cap 51, and which,

when desired, enables an outside fluid pressure supply to be connected into the manifold through a Schrader-type inflating valve contained therein and not shown in the drawings.

Pressure gages 53 are connected into valve body 59 to provide visible indications for the control of the pressure within the raft compartments.

When it becomes necessary to inflate the liferaft described, th proper manipulation of release means 3 of the fluid pressure storage container 3, which, may be a liquid carbon dioxide container, liberates fluid medium under considerable pressure, anywhere up to one thousand pounds per square inch, approximately, into the hose Iii and toward manifold connector 2 i. Here, the fluid flow divides, and the pressure of the incoming medium raises the spring seated valve member 22, initially against the resistance of the coiled spring 28, and practically at the same time, taking up the resistance of spring 46 through the medium of piston assembly at, which is propelled to act against spring support 53. Thereupon the medium passes through passage 3| and nozzle 32 into the compartment 2, a similar procedure taking place with respect to compartment 3. The inflatable compartments 2 and 3 have, of course, a considerably larger volume than the pressure medium container 3. The pressure medium, therefore, expands and fill the compartments at a suitable pressure, considerably lower' than that originally found in the container 3, the rate of flow being governed by nozzle 32. However, as soon as such inflating pressure within the compartment reaches a value which is higher than the predetermined force with which spring 42 acts to hold vent valve 36 against its seat,- the seating force of spring 46 having beenneutralized by the direct action of the inflating pressure on inlet valve 22 and piston assembly 30; the vent valve 3S, being subject to the pressure within the compartment through the tubular opening in support it, will be unseated, and cause an immediate reduction in the compartment pressure. Immediately upon the cessation of the inflating pressure within inlet 2d, spring 46 acting on the piston assembly i-lii, and spring 28 acting directly upon inlet valve 22, will effect a seating thereof, and at the same time permit the full force of spring 46 to bear against spring support 49, valve stem 39, and thereby on vent valve 36.

It will be apparent from the above that during the inflation, the vent'valve is seated only with the force of the light spring #2, calibrated to the safe compartment pressure of approximately three pounds per square inch, while at a time when no inflation is taken place, the vent valve is held seated by the far larger force of spring 46 in addition to that of spring 52. This arrangement insures an absolutely leak-proof vent valve in accordance with the objects set forth above.

The deflation of the life-raft compartments From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided an inflation device which incorporates the objects set forth initially, and which will be recognized to constitute a decided improvement over prior devices of this character.

It will also be seen from the character of the device illustrated, that the principles of con-- struction of the present invention are broadly applicable to various types of pressure medium receiving devices; so that, while the invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, I do not wish it to be limited save as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

i. For use with a pressure medium receiving device comprising an envelope adapted to withstand a predetermined degree of pressure, a maximum pressure safety inflating device comprising a casing; an inlet for said casing formed with a chamber; an inflating valve in said chamber normally seated in said inlet; a restricted inflating fluid outlet; a venting outlet in said casing; a venting inlet in communication with said venting outlet; fluid flow conducting means frmn said chamber to said inflating fluid outlet; a venting valve normally closing said venting outlet; spring means urging said venting valve toward its closlng position; second spring means aiding the action of said first spring means;-and a fluid pressure operable piston in said valve chamber operatively associated with said second spring means adapted to be acted upon by the pressure of the inflating fluid upon opening of said inflating valve whereby said second spring means is rendered ineifective.

2. A valve assembly for utilization in conjunction with a pressure medium receiving device, comprising easing means having inlet means for pressure medium; venting outlet means for said pressure medium; a venting valve normally close ing said venting outlet means; spring means urging said venting valve towards its closing position with a. force adapted to be overcome when the pressure in the venting outlet means exceeds a predetermined pressure; second spring means aiding to maintain said venting valve in its closed position with a force greater than said-predetermined pressure; and fluid pressure operable piston means associated with said inlet means adapted to render said second spring means ineifective during the introduction of pressure medium through said inlet means.

3. A valve comprising casing means having an inlet, a restricted outlet communicating with the inlet, a vent, closur means for said vent, piston and valve means constructed and arranged to cooperate with each other in response to fluid pressur at said inlet for opening by said valve means of fluid communication between said inlet and said outlet and for movement of said piston, releasable holding means cooperating with said closure means and said piston, and spring means normally operating on said closure means through said holding means for biasing saidclosure means closed, said piston movement operating to release said holding meansand to nullify said bias. i

4. A valve for filling a container with a fluid medium to a predetermined pressure, comprising casing means having an inlet, a restricted outlet for passing the medium from the inlet, a vent for the casing means, valve means for closing said vent, means for biasing said valve means closed with a predetermined pressure, additional means normally biasing said valve means closed with a force higher than said predetermined pressure, and means operative upon high pres- 'sure in said inlet for nullifying the eflect of said additional biasing means.

HENRY ERNEST HEIGIS. 

